Machine for internally spraying collapsible tubes



June 20, 1950 D. J. PALERMO 2,512,581

MACHINE FOR' INTERNALLY SPRAYING COLLAPSIBLE TUBES Filed Jan. 3, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Snventor Dominiqi Palermo (Itto'meg June 20, 1950 2,512,581

MACHINE FOR INTERNALLY SPRAYING COLLAPSIBLE TUBES Filed Jan. 5, 1947 D. J. PALERMO 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 SPR AY fiTARTZ SWITCH (Ittorneg Patented June 20, 1950 UNITED STATES PATEN' I OFFIC E MACHINE FOR INTERNALLY SPRAYING COLLAPSIBLE TUBES Dominic J. Palermo, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Victor Metal Products Corporation, Brooklyn, N. Y.,.a corporation of New York Application January 3, 1947, Serial No. 720,082

1 Claims.

This invention relates to spraying machines and particularly to those designed to spray the interiors of collapsible tubes with a protective coating of lacquer or the like. v I

Diificulty has been experienced in spraying properly certain parts of the interior surfaces of collapsible tubes, particularly the wall of the relatively small openingin the neck of the tube and the tapered shoulder beyond the neck, since the nozzle ofthe spray gun is too large to be introduced into the neck.

Previous machines for spraying such tubes have also been complicated and unsatisfactory largely because of the ineflicient, expensive and cumbersome means of the mechanical type heretofore employed to open and to close the valves controlling the supply of spraying material.

The present invention therefore contemplates the provision of a'simple, inexpensive and dependable machine wherein an operator mounts the tubes to be lacquered in the machine, and removes the lacquered tubes therefrom, the machine'having but two primary movements namely, an intermittent rotation of a turntable and a reciprocatory movement of a spray gun; there may be an optional rotation of the tube holder inaddition, but complicated mechanical movements and devices are eliminated and freedom from interruption of production-assured.

The invention further contemplates the provision of electrically operated means for controlling theoperation of the spray gun.

The invention further contemplates the provision of simple means for adjusting the length of the spraying stroke of the spray gun relatively to the complete stroke of the gun. v j

The inventionfurther contemplates the provision of a simple removable tube holder whereby the machine mayibe adapted for rotation of the tubes during the. spraying operation or for the spraying of tubes differing substantially in diam.- eters andlengths. I e

The various objects of the invention willlbe clear from the description which follows and from the drawings, in which;

Fig. l is a top, Plan View partly brokenaway to expose the underlying structure, of aspraying machine embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational View thereof.

Fig.. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view partly in section of a typical tube holder and of'the means for removably mounting the holder on the turntable.

.Fig. 4 is asimilar; viw.. of-amcdified form-0f 2 tube holder which is rotatable, and of the means for rotating the holder at the required time.

Fig. 5 is a side. elevaticnal view of the means for adjusting the time during which the spraying operation is performed, thereby to start and to stop such operation at any point of the stroke of the spray gun.

Fig.. 6 is a similar view of the means for controlling the operation of the spray gun to spray a tube only when such tube is present on the corresponding holder and to out off the spray when the tube is absent.

Fig. Tlis a wiring diagram of the electrical connection to the various controls.

-In the practical embodiment of the invention shown by way of example, the turntable 20 of Figs. 1 and 2 is intermittently rotated by any suitable means to carry the removable tube holders 2l thereon to the spraying station indicated by the numeral 22. A suitable spray gun 23 of any well known type, reciprocates vertically at the station 22 into and out of the tube 24, which is arranged within the holder 2| and with its open end uppermost. Lacquer in the form of a spray is forced out of the nozzle of the gun at the proper time and during a selected portion of the stroke of the nozzle.

Depending from the turntable is the shaft 26, supported by the bearing 21 which is in turn carried by the frame 28 of the machine. 0n the underside of the turntable is the gear wheel 29 meshing with the pinion 30 on the shaft 3|, which shaft also carrie 'the Genevawheel 32 and is supported by the U-shaped bracket 40. The .Geneva pin 33 on the plate disc 34 is rotated continuously and isinserted into the slots of the Geneva wheel successively to impart intermittent movement to the Geneva wheel in the usual manner.v The pinion 30 is thereby intermittently rotated. as is the gear wheel 29, as well as the turntable which carries the tube holders successively to the spraying station. To rotate the Geneva pin, the plate 34 is mounted on the shaft 35 projecting from the gear box 36 'which houses suitable reductiongearingpdriven by the motor 31 through the shaft38. A shaft 39 projecting from the reduction gear box 36 is driven by the reduction gearing at the same speed as the Geneva pin shaft 35 and carries the pulley 4| and the crank 42, said crank being operatively connected t th spray un.

A suitable slot 43 in the frame 28 permits rotation of the crank and the lower partof the connecting rod 44 to which the crank is connected, without interference. The upper part of the con necting rod is secured to the pin 45 projecting from the slide 46 which reciprocates in the slot of the fixed guide 41 supported by the frame of the machine. Between the pin 45 and the slide 46 and integral therewith is the bearing 48 through which the upright leg 49 of the L-shaped spray gun support is passed and adjustably secured as by means of the set screw 50. The other or horizontal leg of the spray gun support carries the gun 23 which is adjustable horizontally along the support and is secured in adjusted position thereon by the clamp screw 52.

It will therefore be seen that the spray gun 23 is reciprocated through a complete down and up stroke on each movement of the turntable, so that the nozzle is carried into the tube 24 and withdrawn therefrom while the turntable is at rest, the turntable turning to arrange the next tube underneath the nozzle after the nozzle is raised suiiiciently to clear the preceding tube. An operator drops tubes with the neck ends thereof down, into the tube holders 2| in advance of the spraying station while another operator removes the sprayed tubes after they have passed the spraying station.

Each tube holder is individually and removably held to the turntable whereby the holders may be-changed to rotatable holders or to those taking other lengths and diameters of tubes. As is obvious, the tube holders need not be changed to accommodatetubes ofa smaller diameter, but may be made to receive such smaller tubes by merely inserting into each holder a sleeve of the required inner diameter. The tube holder 2| comprises the cup portion 53 with or without a sleeve into which the tube slides easily and from which it is readily removed. An opening as 54 is made centrally in the bottom of the cup 53 to receive the neck of the tube or the cap of a capped tube when capped tubes are to be lacquered. Projecting from the cup 53 are the preferably spaced apart lugs 51 and 58, though said lugs may be combined into one integral lug if desired. The lug5l carriesthe pin 59 adapted to slide into and out of the holefi'l] made close to the edge 6 lof the turntable, while the outer edge 62 of the lug 58 is made concavely arcuate to fit and to rest against the edge 61 thereby to aid in supporting the tube holder. The holes 60 for the various tube holders are circumferentially aligned with each other and the tube holders are of the same size and construction and interchangeable.

Inthe form of the tube holder shown in Fig. 4, the cup .53 which has the drain hole or the capreceiving hole 64 in its bottom, is revolubly mounted onthe relatively fixed cup support 65 as by means of theanti-friction bearing 56, the support in turn being removably mounted on the turntable by means of the pin 6'! similar to the pin 59 and operating in the same manner. Arranged adjacent to the spraying station is the friction wheel 68 against the edge of which is carriedthejouter face of the cup 63' when the tube holder is brought into the spraying station on the rotation"of ,the turntable. The friction wheel is continuously driven as by means of the auxiliary motor 69 whereby rotation of the cup 63 and of the tube contained therein is attained during the time the tube ren'iairisat the spraying station and while it is being sprayed. Such rotation of the tube is sometimes advisable to insure complete coverage of the interior wall of the tube with lacquer in certain cases.

Means are provided for controlling the discharge of atomized coating? material from the nozzle of the spray gun, so that only the interior of the tube at the spraying station may be coated and all other parts of the tube and of the machine may be kept clean and free of unwanted coating material. Said means takes the form of an electrically operated solenoid valve as 10 for turning the spray on and oil at predetermined points of the stroke of the spray gun, and of means for preventing opening of the valve when no tube is at the spraying station. The valve 10 is of a well known type receiving air under pressure from a suitable source and having an air outlet opening communicating with the pipe H of the spray gun 23 to operate the piston valve thereof and thereby to start and to stop the spray. Lacquer is supplied to the gun through the pipe 12 and atomizing air through the pipe 13 in the usual manner. When the circuit to the solenoid valve is closed and current is supplied thereto, said valve is opened to supply compressed air to the p'iston of the gun thereby to start the spray. When the circuit is opened and the current is cut off, the valve I0 closes and the spray gun valve also closes to stop the spray.

The means for energizing and deenergizing the solenoid of the valve I0 comprises a pair ofswitches 14", 15 (Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 7) in the circuit to said valve; The switch 14 is the spray start ing switch and is normally open to maintain the valve 10 normally closed. The switch 15 is normally closed. As best seen from Fig. 7, a two-pole relay it is interposed in the line between the switches and the valve 10, and serves to maintain closed the cirout to the valve when the switch 14 is momentarily closed and during the time that the switch 1'5 is closed. When the switch 15 is opened, the contacts of the relay are separated to open the circuit to the valve, permitting the valve to close and cutting off the air to the piston of the spray gun to stop the spray.

A suitable revoluble member serves akin to a commutator cooperate the switches on each complete reciprocation of the spray gun. As best seen in Fig. 5, the member takes the form of a grooved pulley 4 i, adjustably carrying a V-shaped stop member 18 on one flange and a similar member 19 on the other flange, the pulley being mounted on the crank shaft 39 and rotating therewith. By first loosening the set screw thereof, either stop maybe adjusted to and set at any desired point of the circumference of the flange on which it is mounted. A roller ill on the arm 82 of the switch I4 is engaged by the stop 18 and depressed to close the circuit to the relay 16 and valve Ill thereby to start the spray in the manner above described at the desired point of the stroke of the gun. A similar roller on the arm of the normally closed switch 15 is later depressed by the stop 19 to open said switch and to stop the spray at the pointdesired. It will be seen that the start and stop mechanism is extremely simple and dependable and not likely to get out of order while highly adjustable through a wide range.

The means for preventing closing of the circuit to the valve 10 and thus preventing any spraying operation when a tube is not arranged at the spraying station is best seen in Fig. 6. Said means comprises the lever 83 pivoted at 84 and terminating in a curved portion 85 arranged in the path of the tube entering the spraying station 22. The member 86 of a normally open safety switch 81 is spring-pressed toward the lever 83 on one side of the pivot 84 and tends to rotate the lever in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig.6 to eat the switchi n a tube is not present in the holder 2-! or 53 at the spraying station, the lever 83 is rotated by the" member 86 enough to open the switch 81, the amount of such started by the switch 14, whereby if no tube is present at the proper place, no spray can result.

By starting and stopping the spray at the prop er time, thorough coating of the inaccessible neck part of the tube interior is assured, and the machine may take tubes of different lengths and diameters, the stroke of the gun being preferably always the same, but the spraying ending at different points of the stroke for tubes differing in length.

In any case, the spraying is preferably begun close to the neck of the tube without the necessity for inserting the nozzle into the neck opening. Thorough coating is assured by the flooding of the neck and shoulder by the excess lacquer which begins to accumulate at the start of the spraying operation and continues to accumulate during the remainder of the operation, advantage being taken of the slow drainage capacity of the narrow neck because of surface tension of the liquid which does not permit the liquid to flow out of the tube as rapidly as it drains from the wall.

It will be seen that I have provided a simple and dependable high speed machine for spraying collapsible tubes and adequately coating the interior points thereof which are relatively inaccessible, that the machine is readily adjustable to tubes of the usual commercial sizes and lengths, and that the operator or operators need merely mount and dismount the tubes.

Various changes may obviously be made in the specific forms of the invention herein shown and described without departing from the spirit of the invention defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for coating the interior walls of collapsible tubes, an intermittently rotatable turntable, a series of removable tube holders spaced circumferentially around the edge of the turntable, a vertically reciprocating spray gun at a spraying station, adjustable supporting means controlling the transverse position and the effective stroke of the gun and comprising a bracket having a horizontal leg supporting the gun and securable at any selected point of the leg to the gun to adjust the position of the gun radially of the turntable, a vertical leg on the bracket, a reciprocating slide pivotally supporting the vertical leg for adjustment of the gun circumferentially of the turntable, the vertical leg being adjustable vertically in the slide for adjusting the gun vertically of the turntable, and spray control means for adjusting the beginning and end of the spraying stroke of the gun independently of the position and length of the vertical mechanical stroke of the gun comprising a, solenoid valve controlling the emission of spray from the gun, a continuously rotating wheel having a pair of axially spaced parallel circumferential flanges, a stop adjustably mounted on each flange at any selected point of the entire circumference thereof, and a switch in the path ofeach stop and electrically connected to the valve thereby to open and to close the valve at respective predetermined points in the revolution of the wheel, said points being adjustably spaced apart circumferentially at any selected portions of the circumference of the wheel..'

2. i In a machine for coating the interior of collapsible tubes, rotatable means for intermittently advancing a tube to a spraying station, a spray gun at the station, means for vertically reciprocating the gun between successive movements of the tube advancing means, an electrically operated valve controlling the emission of spray from said gun, a pair of revoluble stops adjustable circumferentially relatively to each other through anang'le of substantially 360, a Wheel having two spaced apart similar flanges each adapted to hold one of the stops at any point of the entire circumference thereof, a normally open energizing switch to energize the valve in the path of and closed by one of the stops to start the spray, a normally closed deenergizing switch to deenergize the valve opened by and in the path of the other stop to stop the spray, the tube advancing means including a turntable having a series of circumferentially aligned holes adjacent the outer edge thereof, a holder for each tube outside of said edge and comprising a generally cylindrical cup, a projection extending outwardly from the cup and removably resting by gravity at all times during the operation of the machine on the turntable and a pin extending from the projection parallel to the axis of the cup and entering a selected one of the aligned holes in the turntable, the cup having a bottom drain hole therein unobstructed at all times.

3. In a machine for coating the interior walls of collapsible tubes, an intermittently rotatable horizontal turntable, a series of removable tube holders spaced circumferentially around the edge of the turntable and immovably fixed thereto during the spraying of tubes carried by the holders, a sprayer reciprocating vertically into and out of the tube holders as each holder reaches said station, adjustable supporting means controlling the position of the sprayer and the points of beginning and ending of the spray during the stroke of the sprayer, said means comprising a revoluble crank, a slide fixed to the free end of the crank and reciprocated thereby, a fixed guideway receiving the slide, a bearing associated with the slide and reciprocating therewith, an L-shaped support for the sprayer having a vertical leg slidably and rotatably secured in the bearing for vertical adjustment of the sprayer and for limited adjustment thereof circumferentially of the turntable, said support having a horizontal leg adjustably secured to the sprayer for horizontal adjustment of the sprayer, a solenoid valve operatively connected to the sprayer to control the emission of the spray from the sprayer, and means for operating the valve.

4. The machine of claim 3, the turntable having a series of circumferentially spaced apart holes adjacent the peripheral edge thereof, each of the holders comprising an upright cylindrical cup, a vertical pin in parallel spaced relation to the cup and entering a selected one of the holes, the cup being in outward spaced relation to the peripheral edge of the turntable at all times, said cup having an unobstructed hole in the bottom thereof permitting draining of coating material therefrom in all operative positions of the tube holders, and a lug on the cup projecting hori- 7 zontally toward the pin and below the top of th pin, and in position toengage the peripheral edge of the turntable and. thereby to prevent displacement of the cup.

' 5. In a machine for coating the interior walls of collapsible tubes, a horizontal turntable having circumferentially aligned holes therethrough adjacent the peripheral edge thereof, a series of similar tube holders each having a vertical cylindrical cup and a vertical pin parallel to the axis of and completely outside of the cup and removably fitted into a selected hole, and a connecting member having a horizontal portion thereof secured to the pin and resting on the upper surface of the turntable in the operative position of the tube holder and extending past the pin and connected to the cup thereby to hold the cup in outward spaced relation to and beyond was the peripheral edge of the turntable, the bottom of the cup having a central unobstructed verticatdrainage. hole therein arrangedat all times beyond the periphery ofthe turntable.

J .v PALERMO.

I 7 REFERENCES omen The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED. STATES PATENTS. Numb r Name at 1,816 903: Hagexnan v Aug. 4, 1931 2,103,270; Murch Dec. 28, 1937 2,141, west n -,--.----v 3 1938 2,18 83. Eb rhar 1 9 2 ,8 Templ --.-i-- ---V-- Ju y 20, 1943 Pearson Feb. 8, 1944 

